It’s out now, and as such, nothing was gonna stop us from checking out Noodlecake’s Devious Dungeon 2.

To start out, when gets to pick a character/class from mage, barbarian or rogue. Each has a specific set of attributes, so the one selected does have an influence on performance.

In this one, castled treasure is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, our main bad guy, the Summoner, isn’t particularly keen on guests, so there is a heavy cost for trying to get to the treasure.

The playing area translates to a 2D platformer adventure, with several levels laden with objects and such. It has an expected medieval feel, with fire-lit caverns and interesting looking decor. The graphics are especially retro in nature, which goes well with the pseudo-dungeon motif. It’s playful representation, not entirely unseen, but one that works well with this game in particular.

The game is kind enough to provide an interactive tutorial. Through this, one gets to learn the basics of control, including the direction system and two-button virtual touch controls: these control left and right movement, jumping, and attacking. This tutorial gets one ready, and allows one to get used to getting around and accomplishing different tasks.

The aforementioned objects are what really make the game interesting; some can be easily taken care of by a swipe of our protagonist’s weapon, and some can be jumped over; jumping is also useful with regards to traversing the layered platforms. But then, one needs to be on the lookout for dangers from above, and others that roam a particular ground level. There are bosses, RPG elements, gear to accumulate and more.

When it’s all said and done, success depends on weighing flight vs fight in some scenarios, and being quick enough to bounce around when needed, collecting all collectibles and moving on by unlocking new areas to explore. It’s pretty straightforward and fun at the same time. For $1.99 (with in-app purchases), it’s not a scary investment, either.

Happy Dash is a new game out on Google Play courtesy of developer Shinypixelgames.

The game is a 2D platformer with a retro feel, with levels that are generated randomly.

Happy Dash is a funny endless platformer that has a lot to offer! If you cherish a lovely pixel art style, mashed up with modern mobile features like achievements, leader boards and simple, intuitive touch controls, this might just be the game for you!

As you dash your way through random generated levels, you beat up tons of enemies, doing combos while gaining EXP to level up and make it to new worlds! Each run is different from the last one, but you make a progress since you can visit the Upgrade Shop after each time! So better catch a lot of coins, there’s really cool stuff to spend it on!

There are a lot of achievements to obtain and global highscores to compete with your friends and other players around the world, but that’s certainly not all! As you buy drafts for new types of blocks, unlock new power-ups and boost your character, eventually you’ll unlock your super power!

Megatroid is a game that uses a retro-inspired gameplay design with 3D graphics. Players control a futuristic space mercenary who is out to destroy evil robot faces, I suppose. She also has a long red pony tail, and a talking robot that helps her out: both essential for destroying robot faces. The obvious key influence of Megatroid is Mega Man, with the ability to just run horizontally and slide down walls.

The game’s hook is that there’s no set levels: they are all ranomly generated, though the same levels can be played by using the same level name. While some level pieces do get re-used, there is enough of a variety in them to keep them feeling just fresh enough. Playing these levels is necessary to gain experience to unlock boss fights, and to collect money for upgrades. The game is free to play, with the ability to buy money and credits for special items and upgrades.

The controls are simple with just buttons for horizontal movement, jumping, and firing, with layouts designed for tablets and phones; the phone buttons are a bit large on 7“ tablets, but they’re better than the tablet controls which are designed for 10” devices. The app is fairly unstable, as it seems to crash way too often even on the Nexus 7 that I tested on.

The problem with the random level generation is that visually, the levels are just way too similar. There’s only one real type of level design that gets used in the early levels of the game that should be attracting and hooking the player. This causes the game to feel monotonous and repetitive, and it was a struggle to keep going with it. Things start to get mixed up once the first boss battle is unlocked, but then he winds up being absurdly difficult with some missile attacks that are practically impossible to dodge. But at least there’s a different visual style! Also, the game commits the sin of not having its secondary currency earnable through in-game actions, only through outside purchases or offers.

The monotony is really what got to me: it felt at times like if I wasn’t reviewing the game, then I’d probably have quit sooner. There’s really no reason why a retro-inspired game that lets me control a futuristic redhead space mercenary shouldn’t keep me captivated. I’m soundly disappointed.